The Charlotte and Thomas Pitt series is a collection of novels written by the Edgar Award winning English author Anne Perry. The series comprises of thirty different novels published from 1979 to 2015. All the novels of the series are based on the Mystery and Thriller genres and are set in London, England. Thomas Pitt is the central character of the series who plays the role of the protagonist. He serves as a police inspector. Charlotte Pitt is the wife of Thomas, who comes from a rich upper class family of London. Her connections often help Thomas in carrying out crucial investigations. Other recurring characters of the series include George and Emily Ashworth, Edward and Caroline Ellison, Dominic Corde and Lady Vespasia Cumming-Gould. Author Anne Perry has done the characterization of Inspector Thomas Pitt and his wife Charlotte Pitt in the following manner:

INSPECTOR THOMAS PITT:

Thomas Pitt belongs to the working class of Victorian London and serves as a detective in the London Police Department. As a teenager, he was allowed to share the lessons with the son of a landed estate where his father used to work as a gamekeeper. After his father was arrested for false accusations of the poaching game and moved to Australia, Thomas was permitted to join the police force in his place. At the beginning of the series, he is recruited as a Police Inspector, but gets promoted to become the Superintendent in the later part of the series. Thomas has a genuine nature and does not feel afraid of bringing out the truth. He always fights for justice. While investigating some accused men with power and influence, Thomas is removed from his post and is told to join the Special Branch, where he becomes an Inspector once again. He gets promoted as the Head of the Special Branch later.

CHARLOTTE PITT:

The wife of Inspector Thomas Pitt, Charlotte belongs to the upper-class of London. She has ties with influential politicians and powerful people. The first husband of her sister Emily Ellison is a viscount whereas her second husband is among the rising politicians of London. Charlotte uses these high connections of Emily to aristocracy and landed gentry, to help Thomas frequently in his investigative work. She herself gets involved in certain investigations sometimes. During these times, Charlotte relies on her all rounder maid, Gracie to take care of her children, Daniel and Jemima. Her interference in the investigations often helps Thomas in getting crucial information and enables them to solve the cases together. Charlotte and Emily become friends with other influential women of the society such as Lady Vespasia Cumming-Gould. This helps them further in their investigations. The two sisters are featured in the first novel of the series as unconventional young women who join the police investigation by choice and help the police in solving murder cases.

The first novel of the Charlotte and Thomas Pitt series was published under the title ‘The Cater Street Hangman’, in the year 1979 by Fawcett Books. It introduces the characters of Thomas and Charlotte Pitt with a plot set in the year 1881 in London, England. Thomas is depicted as an honest police Inspector trying to solve murder mysteries. His wife Charlotte Pitt is depicted as an unconventional lady who always assists her husband in his investigations. She is described as belonging to the influential upper class of London. Charlotte uses the political contacts of her sister Emily Ellison in getting important information that helps Thomas in solving the cases. Emily and Charlotte are both depicted as brave women who are careless of murders and actively help the police in investigating the mysteries. The first murder mystery in which Thomas involved is the murder of Emily’s maid. The takes place in the house of Charlotte and Emily Ellison, before the marriage of Thomas and Charlotte. The two sisters had gone out to drink tea like normal Victorian ladies when the maid gets murdered.

While investigating, Thomas finds out that many people had the motive of killing the maid. Amidst the investigation, he gets attracted towards Charlotte. Although the romance between a working class man and a high society girl was not possible at that time, the two two fall in love with each other. However, Thomas is more focused on finding out the killer as a few other women had also become the victims of the killer. Thomas and Charlotte eventually marry each other, while still investigating the murders. Apart from the standard elements that a normal mystery novel has, this novel included some interesting elements about class, value and manners in the society of Victorian London. The success of the novel caused it to be adapted into a TV show in the year 1998. The show starred Keeley Hawes and Eoin McCarthy in leading roles. Hannah Spearritt also acted as a debut actor in the show. The second novel of the Charlotte and Thomas Pitt series was published in the year 1980 by Fawcett Books. The novel was titled ‘Callander Square’ and continued to feature the central characters Thomas Pitt and his wife Charlotte. The plot of the novel is set in Callander Square, which is a considered fashionable area, free from any crime. However, the police are baffled by learning about a couple of murders of newborns that take place in Callander Square region of London. This is the first case in which Charlotte Pitt begins to assist her husband in the investigations.

At first, Charlotte seems a little curious about the murders. Even though she does not have the habit of interfering in the work of Thomas, the murder case makes her restless and she begins to unearth the truth on her own. She starts searching the closets of rich people, seeks back door gossips from barmaids and all that she is capable of in trying to get some clue about the killer. Thomas and his wife keep investigating the murders from two different perspectives. The novel follows the first installment of the series and depicts the elements of orthodox investigation techniques along with the mysterious plot. Following the success of the series, author Anne Perry went on to establish herself as a noteworthy author of the crime fiction and mystery genres. She even won the Edgar Award in the year 2001 for one of her short stories.

With the latest book in the Gray Man series by Mark Greaney coming out soon, we wanted to make the very first book in the series our book of the month.

Greaney is an incredible author and if you love the "lone badass" type of books then you will LOVE the Court "Gray Man" Gentry series. Read more about it.

Featured Series

It might seem like overkill, but we're giving The Gray Man series our featured series of the month.

Honestly this is such a great series and we feel not enough people read it so we want to push it. Read more about The Gray Man series and seriously if you haven't read it - start! Amazing thrillers.

Featured Author

Mark Greaney is an incredibly talented author. Not only does he write the Gray Man series however he also writes various Jack Ryan novels. Many feel he is the best writer of them and he truly is a great author. We're happy to award our author of the month to Mark Greaney.

Did You Know…

Bernard Cornwell attempted to enlist in the British armed services at least three times, but was rejected on the grounds of myopia.